Unique concerns are posed by the storage and transport of perishable goods, such as meat fish, produce, etc. These concerns have led to the development of containers specifically tailored to carry perishable goods. The nature of the containers depends on the transportation media. Cardboard cases are commercially used when the transportation media is refrigerated, i.e., when the transportation media is a refrigerated truck or railroad car. Better insulated containers are used when the storage medium is not refrigerated. In order to keep weight low, such containers are often formed of expanded cellular polystyrene, i.e., Styrofoam.
In the past, insulated shipping containers have been generically shaped. The generic shape has taken the form of a right rectangular parallelepiped. Such containers comprise an open-topped box and a cover. The open-topped box includes a bottom, side walls and end walls that are integral with one another and define a right rectangular parallelepiped. The open-topped box is closed by a cover that is affixed to the box by straps, tape, etc. While right rectangular parallelepiped containers are suitable for use with some perishable goods, such as produce and cut meat, they have disadvantages when used with other products, such as gutted large fish, such as salmon.
Typically a refrigerant material, such as ice, is housed in an insulated container with the perishable goods being shipped. In the case of large fish, the fish are laid on their side and the ice is packed in and around the fish. Because fish do not have a right rectangular parallelepiped shape, the amount of ice packed into the corners of prior art insulated containers is greater than the amount of ice packed around the mid-section of the fish. Further, as the ice melts, it tends to gravitate to the corners. Both the initial corner concentration and the gravitation of ice to the corners of a container can create an undesirable temperature differential that results in cooler corners and a warmer center, where the major portion of the fish resides. Under extreme conditions this can result in fish spoilage.
Prior art insulated containers used to ship fish have other disadvantages. They are weaker than desired in several areas, particularly where the side walls and end walls meet the bottom. Further, they do not provide reinforcement for opposing the force produced by straps or other cover affixing mechanisms. In addition, the drainage mechanism used to keep fish above melted ice water is more complex than desired. Also, the bottoms and tops of such containers are flat, which allows them to slide with respect to one another when stacked one atop another. See, for example, the shipping container described in Canadian Patent 2,079,718. Further, the length and width dimensions of some prior art fish shipping containers results in overhangs at the corners when the containers are stacked on a pallet. Again, see Canadian Patent 2,079,718, particularly FIGS. 5, 6, and 7 and the related description.
The present invention is directed to providing an insulated shipping container for fish that overcomes the foregoing and other disadvantages of previously developed insulated containers.